such good friends in so short a time

     MBG and I decided  to  spend  three  nights  in Harare  to rest up before heading to  Imire,  and the Kutandara  Lodge  was recommended  to  us  by the Imire staff.  Now I  can't  remember  what  I  expected ,  but  I  know  it  wasn't  what we found.
     Paula  and Gary, the owners, purchased the Lodge  recently and thoroughly  remodeled  it.  Both of  them  have  outside  jobs to support  the  place, since  tourism  in  Zimbabwe  is not  flourishing yet.  Paula  is an accountant ,  and Gary teaches chemistry  in a private  secondary  school ,  where, interestingly  enough, most of his  students  are  Greek!  Apparently  there is  a  substantial  Greek  population  in Harare ,  and Gary  said  that  his  students  were wonderful.  The  feeling  has  to  be  mutual  since I noticed  that  Gary  left  for  school  before  6 am in order  to  watch  his  students  play  soccer .
     The Lodge  is clearly  a  labor  of  love ,   and  you  can  see  it  everywhere .

The bathroom in our suite.

An itinerant Vikings fan outside our room.

    



 The  grounds  were   beautifully  lush.  The gardener, a gentleman  by the name  of Solomon ,  kept  the  flower  beds in pristine  condition.  Even  so, gardeners  will  be  gardeners, and MBG and I, being gardeners, were  able  to  find  the  odd weed or two  hiding  in  the  beds.  Solomon  welcomed  our help, and we three  enjoyed working  together . 







       What  really  won us  over  about  Kutandara  Lodge,  though ,  was the  people.  The only guest there besides  us   was a South African  guy who  is  in  the  mining  business .    He'd been  living  at Kutandara  Lodge   for more  than  a  year   while  developing  a  nearby  diamond and  gold  mine.  Although  he was terribly  busy, he kept offering  to show  us around, a generous  offer  for so busy a man.  He taught  us a lot about  Africa  in our conversations at meal times.
       It was the staff though who became  our  dear friends .   Lovemore?  Sandy?  Sarah?  Susan?  Peter?  Solomon?  If you're  reading this, I   can't  express our appreciation  of your care of us and your honoring  us  with  your  friendship !
        And as for YOU ,  I  hope  that  the  next  time  you  find YOURSELF  in  Harare ,  you will  stay  at  the  Kutandara  Lodge .    Which  reminds me:  I  have  got to  get on Trip Advisor and post a review !

Sandy and Sarah

GO PACK . . . .gone

       Like sports  fans  the world  over, my confidence  in  my  team goes only so far.  I  am  absolutely  certain  that  they require  my direct  supervision  to  win.  So I  felt pretty  traitorous  being  halfway  around  the  world  when  the team  needed  me most.
      So, imagine my relief  when  I  found that the NFC Championship  game would be broadcast  live  in Harare, albeit starting  at  12.30  in the  morning.
      The aforementioned  Viking  fan  decided  to  stay  up with  me to watch, and Lovemore, who is in charge  of  night  security  at Kutandara  Lodge , was intrigued .   He is a devout football  fan, but like  all other non-Americans, he means "soccer" when he says "football."

     

Yet, Lovemore  was  more  than  willing  to learn the rules  of  American  football , and he was  cheerfully  optimistic , as you  can  see.  He did very  well  at learning  the game,  but  the concept  of "sudden  death" stumped him.  It was just  SO . . . .  well,  sudden . 


     Even  the  dogs at the Green  Bay  Packers  Zimbabwe  headquarters  took  the  loss  hard.

Sigh.

Several arrivals in Africa

    The long flight from Dubai was somewhat disappointing.  One time when I flew across the Sahara, I was treated to seemingly  infinite  vistas of desert that I found mesmerizing.  I had great hopes  for the downward  pointing camera the plane  was  equpped with.  But it was hazy the entire trip, and we saw nothing, not even Mount 
Kilimanjaro, which we passed quite near to.
       Our plane landed in Lukasa, the Capitol of Zambia.  MBG  was wild to set foot on Zambian soil--who wouldn't be after all that sitting--but we weren't  permitted  off  the  plane.  And soon enough we took off again for by far the shortest leg of our  journey, the final leg to Harare.
       We landed right on time and passed into a small but modern  terminal, where a woman  holding a little  handheld  device rather  like a small flashlight  up to a couple of inches  from our  foreheads.  I had no idea that body temperatures could be  detected  from  that distance, but apparently  so.  That is a crucial  part of Zimbabwe's Ebola prevention  program, which so far has a 100% success  rate.  Take that, U.S.!
          Surprisingly  enough, neither  of  us  were  feverish  and so we were permitted to buy  our visas and enter the country.  While  in line,  we had an ever-so-interesting   conversation  with a woman who had been born  in  Zimbabwe  but had emigrated   to England  nine years ago.  This was to be her first trip back, and she was nervous and hopeful.
       We found Dairai, the driver sent by our lodgings, in the terminal,and he cheerfully  greeted us and drove us through the REMARKABLY potholed roads of Harare.
       Soon we pulled into the walled enclosure  of Kutandara  Lodge, our home  for  the  next  couple  of  days.  A fabulous oasis of calm and beauty in the rough-and-tumble

 chaos that is Harare.

Unpleasant discoveries at 38,000 feel

       A sudden  change here.   I am forced to suspend  my chronicles  about Botswana . The reason?  I am in Zimbabwe.  And I don't  have access to my photos.   I do have my new notepad, though, so I will try to keep current with present adventures.
       I am travelling with MBG, who has been a friend for over 30 years.  She and I have the distinction  of being the first two women to have law practices in Rhinelander (in case you're  wondering , I'm  NUMBER ONE!)
       You'd think that in that much time, you'd know  a person, wouldn't  you ?   So imagine  my  distress  when, more than halfway  into our two  day journey , the  conversation  turns, as it does so frequently  this time of year, to football, and I learn the horrible news:  I am  travelling  with  a Viking  fan.
       Sure, I knew she grew up in Minnesota, but she's  lived in Wisconsin, as I  said,for more than 30 years!  I had just ASSUMED she was indifferent to football in general, but no!  She is a bona fide Viking fan.
     For the first time, I have  doubts  about the wisdom of this trip.
       I must admit, however, that so far--apart from this  shocker--it's  been  going ok.  We left the house shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, starting off with an  unremarkable  drive  to Elgin.  Kurt and Wendy welcomed us warmly and even served up a wonderful home-cooked supper.  Then Kurt whisked us off to O'Hare, where we were efficiently processed and launched off by Air Emirates.  A "mere" 14 hours later, two very weary travellers found themselves at Dubai International  Airport .   Disappointingly enough, it looked the same as just about any airport  in any prosperous  country.  Every imaginable luxury store and every franchise  known to mankind, but no soul.  Well, except for as intriguing  a display of hookahs as you've ever seen since 1973.
       Feeling much like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, we valiantly trouped around the vast terminal before finally locating our hotel and retiring for what surely seemed like a well-deserved rest and to await  our wake-up  call to catch the 9-hour-long continuation of our trip to Harare.

and then there are . . . .

     What a shame that so many of the very most interesting of the animals of the Kalahari have been identified as menaces to the farming business!  No different, of course, from the U.S. farming business which persists to this day to see predators such as wolves, coyotes, and cougars as evil incarnate and to strive for their eradication.
     Lions certainly have been viewed this way in the Kalahari, but they are not alone.  Notably, wild dogs, leopards, and hyenas suffer from the same bad image.  Leopards still manage to be the most plentiful wild cat in Africa, and they have adapted amazingly well to human habitation, even URBAN human habitation.  They are very much feared, because they apparently hunt by stealth and are very good at it, sometimes even to the detriment of people.  But oh my, are they beautiful and majestic!  Check this article out for sensible alternatives!  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/jan/08/mumbai-residents-learn-live-with-leopards

Here is one of the two kept in compounds at the Grasslands, having just received her twice-weekly ration of meat . . . .  and NOT about to share it with anyone.

What a fabulous creature.  I prefer them to lions, I think, but then, who has to choose?




     And wild dogs!  Not too long before I went to Africa, a child at a U.S. zoo was killed by wild dogs when he fell into a compound from some sort of high observation post.  So I was disposed to dislike the animals and see them as brutal killers, a disposition that apparently I shared with a majority of Africans.  Because wild dogs have become very rare indeed, having been killed on sight for years.

     I understand that wild dogs, long vilified as wily, sneaky, bloodthirsty beasts, are now being seen as having qualities too--such as extreme loyalty.  That is, loyalty to the extent that individuals will sacrifice their own lives for the sake of the pack.  Take a look at this pack being fed and see whether you think they have redeeming features!

I for one was rather taken by them.  They constantly whined at each other and seemed to be always aware of each other.  They teased and played and were undeniably voracious eaters.  And their coloring was just magnificent.  I hope they make a comeback.

There are lions at Modisa . . .

    As I tried to describe earlier, The Grasslands, which is the property upon which Modisa is located, is home to about 25 captive lions collected by Wille DeGraaffe over many years.  Some of them have actually been born in captivity.  This was as a result of "unplanned pregnancies," because no one ever intended that there should be MORE captive lions--they just happened.
     They don't happen any more, though, because the females have birth control implants maintained to prevent the perpetuation of lions in captivity.  Mr. DeGraaffe and Val and Mikkel, the founders of Modisa, are all agreed that lions do not belong in captivity.  These are just too accustomed to the presence of humans, though, to ever be released into the wild again.  It is sad.
     That being said, the lions are cared for with as much respect and consideration as is humanly possible.  Their compounds are a minimum of several acres in size, and they are fed a diet as close to what they would hunt for themselves as possible.  And who could fail to be thrilled by the sound of their roaring?  Or by watching them devour their food?  I hope you will be able to open this movie and experience just a little of the thrill of being near these fabulous animals.

This big guy is named Sampson, and he is the lion with the most seniority.  He shares his enclosure with seven lionesses.  One morning we learned that a young male from an adjacent enclosure jumped the fence INTO Sampson's enclosure.  Not a good idea.  Sad to say, that young lion died.